Sanitary burial-crypt vent



Aug, 26, 1930. D. M. ROTHENBERGER SANITARY BURIAL CRYPT VENT Filed Nov.12, 1929 Patented Aug. 26, v 930] nAKmnr/L BOTKENBERGER, or Lnnsron'r,remsnvimagissmoa ro'nnvnmw.

LD RMER, or nnnnm imimsvrvanm.

sanrram'r nUnIAL-cRYPr vein 1 1 Application flled November 12 1929;Serial No.406,633. i

" The. chief purpose ofthefpresent invention istoprovide a sanita'rfcrypt vent which will surely and thorough y disinfect. gases and fumes.escaping from a burialflcrypt.

' The assemblage of large numbers of burial crypts into mausoleumsh'ascreated anew. problemin sanitation} Thecrypts enerally are placedabove'the' ground leve so; that. fumes and gasesescaping therefrom go into theopen air. PSOmeof thefcrypts will be used-and bodies laced therein Whileother crypts 1mayi be le t vacant. for long periods;

Large. numbersof people may assemble at the mausoleum for funeralsandfor various memorial purposes from time to time," It is essential,therefore,' that the crypts and the mausoleum as a wholeas well asthesurrounding air be maintained clean,clearypureand free fromcontaminating gases or germs. To this end constructors;and'operators-have gone to great Ipainsto insure ,that the joints: anddoors of the individual crypts be tightly and thoroughly sealed againstexit of ffumes, gases. and germs, It is .ascientifically accepted factthat in. such acrypt whicha body has been placedthere will develop fromtime to time noxious gases'or. fumes and posthrough one or more of siblydisease breeding germs. Unless some vent 1s: allowed for the escapeof'these. the be. rupturedgor an exit. forced crypt may a V v thezjointsor Closures. Vents have been provided. leading from inclividual crypts.into so called ventilatingflues built into or associated with themausoleums. It is: a purposeof the present invention to I provide such ameansrof communication between-the crypts and the ventilating flue thatan exit for gases, fumes and germs may be provided but of such characterthat they will be rendered harmless before being released in theventilating flue. T

A] specificv form the invention may .tal're "is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective; fragmentaryview of a portion. of a mausoleum showing a sanitary vent in place inone of the. crypts. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through avent in place in the crypt. 3: is a transverse horizontalsection througha vent. Fig. fl. IS a long tud1nal.-. vert1cal sect on througha vent fis' skeleton perspect-lve of one end of the vent with, the coverremoved;

i There is illustrated aventilatingfluel into which extends the pipe 2leading fromfth'e vent device 3 placed on theflo or 4 of a cryptpreferably near its rear wall 5'against' which runsfthe fine 1. The vent3 hasanopeni'ng 6 whichv may be engaged; bytheinner. end of. thepipe 2.From the opening Gleads a channel7 formed in the ventdevice 3'and thisis turned atits upper end at right angles to turnssupward at 11to'nearly the top of the device and to about on a level with the outlet8'. Here the channel 10 turns at right 1 angles forming a horizontalportion 12 from.

which depends a vertical portion 13 ending in horizontalv portionv 14:providing an outletinto the lower portion of the chamber 9. A cover 15is provided for the entire .devicehaving depending. side walls 16 which,

may be sealed in any suitable manner to the base portion ofthe vent3. Ihave illustrated a. seal packing 17 which will preferably be of jewelerscement although any'other suitomitted. entirely]; If desired the cover15 may" be so'aformed for machined as to closely and tightly fit thelower portion of the vent ficiently tight seal. a

Within the chamber 9 is placed. a suitable disinfecting material. Whilethe character of this material isnot a feature of the pres able packingmay be employed, or indeed in some nstances the seal-or packlng may be*3 sothat the friction contact will form a sufcut invention and anysuitable material may be employed I prefer touse formaldehyde in liquidform although of course when desired the crystalline form may beemployed. vThe disinfectant preferably will be supplied in but to leavethe outlet 8 uncovered. There will thus be provided a. space above thesufficient quantity to cover the opening 14 infectant in the chamber 9which space will be in direct communication with outlet 8.

The material of which the device is made is not essential for itsoperation. It is desirable. however, that the material throughout besuch that it will not be attacked or affected by the atmosphere nor bythe disinfectant nor by the noxious fumes which are to be treated. Tothis end the vent will preferably be made of a non-corrosive metal suchas bronze, although this is not essential and an other suitable materialmay be employed. Vhen a body is placed in the crypt the crypt will beclosed and tightly sealed. In this condition the only communication withthe outside will be the vent 3 which has preferably been placed in thecrypt when built or at least before closing and sealing. Gases or fumesforming in the crypt being relatively heavy will naturally settle to thefloor and as they assemble will force their way into the duct 10 and upthe portion 11 to the portion 12 which, being preferably above the levelof the disinfectant in the chamber 9, will form an effective seal. Thefumes pass ing from the portion of the duct 12 will drop through theportion 13 and exit through the outlet 14 into the disinfecting materialin the chamber 9. As the gases are forced through the disinfectingmaterial they will be purified and will rise to the upper portion of thechamber 9 which is preferably free from disinfecting material and fromwhich leads the duct 8 through which the disinfected fumes will pass,dropping downward through the portion 7 to the outlet 6 and through thepipe 2 into the ventilating flue 1 from which they will disperse intothe air. The outlet 6 is placedbelow the level of the disinfcctantin thechamber 9 and preferably below the outlet 14 thus insuring a thoroughseal.

The device may be empty when placed in position in the crypt and filledwith disinfectant immediately before the body is placed in the crypt andthen the cover put in place and sealed on. This may be a usualprocedltre and may be preferred in some arrangements. If the insertionof the disinfecting material and the assemblage of the vent isv left tobe done in each crypt immediately before the body is placed thereinthere is a possibility of the matter being neglected and one ormortbodies placed in crypts in which the vent is free of disinfectingmaterial. The device of the present invention lends itself convenientlyto an avoidance of this catastrophe. Vheu the mausoleum is built andbefore any of the crypts have been used the sanitary vent of the presentinvention may be filled to the desired extent with the selecteddisinfecting material and the cover placed thereon and sealed in place.WVhen desired the vent may be charged with disinfectant and sealed atthe factory. The outlets 6 and 10 may then be corked or otherwisesuitably temporarily plugged or closed and the devices thus providedwith disinfectant, shipped to be installed all at one time in all of thecrypts in a mausoleum. Of course the corks or other means of sealing theducts 6 and 10 may be removed immediately before the seals arepermanently placed in position and this will obviate all possible futurenegligence of attention and guarantee a permanent readiness for burial.In addition to avoiding the difiiculties incident to neglect or failureto fill one Or more devices before bodies are placed in the individualcrypts this procedure lends itself to accuracy and uniformity ofprocedure since the facilities for filling and sealing the covers on tothe vents at the factory may be more complete and more perfect than thefacilities available at any mausoleum. The outlet pipe 2 may be put inplace when the mausoleum is built and when the vent is placed in thecrypt the inner end of the pipe 2 may be inserted in the opening 6 andsuitably sealed therein as a part of the apparatus. To facilitate thisprocedure, if desired the inner end of the pipe 2 may be flexible or maybe suitably bent as illustrated in Fig. 2 to readily and convenientlyengage the adjacent outlet 6.

The cover 15 with its depending sides 16 substantially insures againstevaporation and dissipation of the disinfecting material and likewisethe circuitous paths for the inlet of the noxious fumes and the outletfor the disinfected fumes reduces to a minimum the tendency to dissipatethe disinfecting material.

WVhile I have described in detail the device illustrated it is but oneexample of the form my invention may take. It will be under stood,therefore. that neither shape, size, material nor form is essential tothe invention but these and other details may be varied in any othersuitable or desired manner.

I claim as my invention 1. A sanitary burial crypt vent made ofnon-corrodible material and comprising a chamber within the crypt, adisinfecting fluid in the chamber, a space in the chamber above theliquid, a duet leading from the space to a point below the liquid leveland through the wall of the crypt to a ventilating flue, a duct havingan opening in the outer wall of the chamber and in the crypt and leadingto a point above the liquid'level and provided with an outlet within thechamber and below the liquid level, and a cover for the chamberextending down its sides and sealing it.

2. A sanitary burial crypt vent made of non-corrodible material andcomprising a chamber within the crypt, a disinfecting fluid in thechamber, a space in the chamber above the liquid. a duct leading fromthe space to a point below the liquid level and through the wall of thecrypt to a ventilating flue, a duct having; an opening in the outerwallof the Chamber and in'the-crypt and leading to a point above the liquidlevel and provided with an outlet within the chamber and below I theliquid level, a cover for the'chamber extending down itssides and meansfor sealing the cover onto the chamber.

- 3. A sanitary burial crypt vent made of. non-corrodible material andcomprising a. closed chamber within thecrypt, a disinfect-- ing fluid inthe chamber, a duct leading from the upper part of the chamber above thefluid level through the wall of the crypt, and a duct having an openingin the lower part of the outer wall of the chamber inthe crypt l andprovided with an outlet within the liquid I in the lower part of thechamber. 4. A sanitary burial crypt vent comprising a closed chamberwithin the crypt, a disinfecting fluid partially filling the chamber, aduct leading from a point in the chamber above the liquid level to apoint below the liquid level and through the wallet the crypt,

and a duct having an opening in the outer wall of the chamber in thecrypt and provided with an outlet within thechamber below the liquidlevel.

5. A sanltary a chamber within'the crypt. a disinfecting fluidpartiallyfilling the chamber, a duct leading from a point in the chamberabove the liquid level to a point below the liquid level and through thewallof the crypt, a

duct having an opening in'the outer wall of the chamber in the crypt andprovided with an outlet within the chamber below the liquid level, acover for the chamber, and means for sealing the cover onto the chamber.

6. A sanitary burial crypt vent compris ing a chamber'within the crypt,a disinfectant therein, a space in the chamber above the disinfectant, aduct leading from the space to a point below the disinfectant level andthrough the wall of the crypt to a ventilating I flue, :a duct having anopening inthe outer I wall of the chamber and in the crypt and leadingto a point above the disinfectant level I and provided with an outletwithin the chamber andbelow the disinfectant level. a cover leading Iabove the disinfectant level through the wall for the chamber extendingdown its sides, and

means for sealing the 'cover onto the chamber. d

7. A sanitary burial crypt vent comprising a closed chamber within thecrypt, a" disinfectant partiallyfilling the chamber, a duct fromtheupper part of the chamber of the crypt, and a duct having an openingin the lower part of the outer wall of the chamber in the crypt andprovided with an outlet within the disinfectant in the lower part of thechamber.

DANIEL M. ROTHENBERGER.

burial crypt vent comprising

